South Texas Water-Quality Concerns From Eagle Ford Shale Fracking
South Texas is home to the Eagle Ford Shale rock formation that has vast, rich concentrations of energy deposits.

February 05, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- South Texas Water-Quality Concerns From Eagle Ford Shale Fracking

"Fracking" is short for "hydraulic fracturing" -- the forceful injection of a water, sand and chemical solution into an underground shale formation that splits apart the rock layers, releasing oil and gas deposits caught between them. South Texas is home to the Eagle Ford Shale rock formation that has vast, rich concentrations of energy deposits.

Shale is a rock formed from hardened clay that can easily be fractured into thin sheets. The Eagle Ford Shale is about 250 feet thick on average, running approximately 50 miles wide by 400 miles long from East Texas southwesterly to the Mexican border.

The fracking industry has taken the area by storm. For example, yearly natural gas production in the Eagle Ford Shale has gone from almost nothing in 2008 to over 220 billion cubic feet in 2011, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas. Oil production over roughly the same period increased from about 140,000 barrels annually to 22 million barrels.

This new industry brings jobs and commerce to an economically depressed region plagued by the worst drought in decades. Fracking has been enthusiastically endorsed by politicians who argue that the fracking industry has great potential to enhance U.S. energy independence and create jobs, but environmentalists and people living in fracking areas express concern about the potential for dangerous pollution, especially of water.

Stories proliferate about strange phenomena blamed on fracking -- from earthquakes in Ohio to flammable tap water. Reportedly, people in Wyoming were advised to leave their bathroom doors open for ventilation when showering to prevent the combustion of water contaminants. People living near fracking wells nationwide have reported chemical-smelling, dirty water from residential taps.

On Jan. 9, 2012, according to Bloomberg, a doctors' group recommended a moratorium on fracking in densely populated vicinities until potentially dangerous health effects are known.

Officially, the jury is out as to whether and how severely fracking activity can contaminate the surrounding water supply. However, in December 2011 the federal Environmental Protection Agency made a tentative finding that fracking in the Wyoming Pavillion shale probably caused groundwater contamination. In two deep wells, the agency found elevated levels of dangerous chemicals like benzene and methane used in nearby fracking.

The EPA conducted the study in response to residential complaints about stinking water. In addressing industry and some political criticism of the study, the EPA emphasizes that the results are preliminary, unique to the geology of Pavillion and subject to peer review. Despite this, Congress has ordered the EPA to begin a comprehensive three-year study of the danger to water from fracking.

Some familiar with the Eagle Ford Shale say its geography is so different from that of the Wyoming shale field that the two shouldn't be compared when theorizing about the potential for water pollution. The Carrizo Wilcox aquifer that provides water to the area lies far above the Eagle Ford shale, separated by a mile or two of rock, leading many to believe cross-contamination would not be possible there.

However, in a major and telling development, a new Texas state fracking regulation took effect on Jan. 2, 2012, that requires fracking operators to disclose on a public website for each well the identity of chemicals mixed with water to make that particular fracking fluid, as well as the total volume of water used.

Fracking in Eagle Ford consumes millions of gallons of clean water that is laced with toxic chemicals after the fracking process is finished. To protect local water resources, companies conducting fracking activities in the Eagle Ford Shale should be subject to government monitoring and should use the most current water-friendly technology and methodology.

If you live on or own land in the area and suspect your water supply may be affected by fracking, be sure to discuss the situation with a personal injury lawyer experienced in toxic tort lawsuits.

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